Craigslist Crazy

The takehome message of this story is: He is a male version of you, you just don’t know it yet!

Brilliant response. I’m glad he finally left you alone!

You handled that very well. Good job!

I’m wondering how they got that skull in the foam of the coffee…that’s actually pretty neat.

I live in Germany, and I can tell you if someone in a coffee shop ANYWHERE here ranted on like that, the Polizei would be summoned, and his ignorant arse would be carted off without a backward glance. They don’t go for that here.

See? You CAN actually meet nice people on Craigslist. It’s more than just a bunch of people posting their twisted fantasies such as getting a haircut while jerking off on model trains.

YG- Germany’s stance on ‘hate speech’ is understandable considering their history, but I’d rather live in a country that “allows” freedom of speech (not that inalienable rights are granted TO citizens by a government– rather, they’re rights that cannot be taken away under ANY circumstances).

Sure, asshole anti-semites are offensive, but not nearly as offensive as a government with the power to censor its citizens!

I wouldn’t call what the government does “censoring”…that’s VERY strong language. Believe you me, the Germans are VERY aware of how they appear in world society and what people think of first when they hear the word “German”.

It is a VERY different experience to live here and see first-hand what daily life is like than to read about a country from a book or the internet (or God forbid, Yahoo news) and form a conclusion. Not saying this is what you’re doing, but it’s what most folks do. There’s what facts say, and then there’s the reality of BEING here…verrrry different.

As for the douche in the post, he’s free to say whatever he wants about anything…but the fact that he was talking so loudly about it is what would cause people to call the Polizei. They wouldn’t want their business to be associated with such extremists. In fact, other people in the restaurant would probably have told him to STFU. It may seem extreme to Americans, but there’s a reason Munich is one of the safest cities in the world. It goes both ways, you see.

BTW, Freedom of speech in the US exists, but people forget the bit about “without slander or libel”. It doesn’t mean you can just mouth off about anything with impunity. Most folks can’t seem to grasp that little caveat.

Eightball– slander or libel are issues civil law, not criminal law. The US government can’t stop me from slandering someone, but the person I slander has the right to sue me in civil court.

Censorship is censorship, regardless of how unsympathetic the ‘hate speech’ is. The American Civil Liberties Union defends the rights of Nazis and the KKK not out of sympathy for their ideas, but because the ACLU recognizes that the principle of free speech is too important to be tampered with– no matter how reasonable the intent.

Whatever, Lisa. Your obvious intelligence does nothing to your credibility when you bring up groups like the ACLU whose ridiculous actions have completely undermined their original purpose. According to your above statement, censorship is on the same level as what the Nazis did and the KKK are still actively doing.

If a country is willing, as whole, to give cede a bit on this particular civil liberty in exchange for personal safety, then what do you care? As I said, Munich is one of the safest cities in the world, and there’s a reason. Do you live here? No. Do you have ANY idea of the day to day climate and what the people are like? So please, just stop talking before you sound any sillier.

Your opinion is formed based on info you’ve read, and it’s faulty because you are applying American law and politics to a country that does not follow them.

Regardless, once YOU mentioned the term Nazi in reference to your opinion about censorship in Germany, I could see where this discussion was going. Feel free to embed further the stereotype that the term “German” is equivalent to “Nazi”. You wouldn’t be the first, and as you’re so adamantly saying, it’s YOUR RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO SAY AS MUCH. Either way, I’m done fighting ignorance like this from someone who sound incredibly young and full of theory rather than life experience.

I loved your response to the guy.

However this whole discussion down here, just made me roll my eyes.. Freedom of speech, freedom of speech. Such big words! You think someone can just say something like that in Germany? Well literally they can, but ever thought how many people would be hurt and offended by things like that?
I rather have Polizei handling those people, and the man not be able to say offensive things like that.

Eightball– the only point I was trying to make, when referencing the ACLU/ Nazis/ and the KKK, is that censorship is a cure that’s worse than the disease* (*in this case, hate speech). I mentioned Nazis only because they’re an unsympathetic group that the ACLU’s gone to bat for— NOT to make a passive aggressive swipe at modern Germany, if that’s what you’re implying.

(I’m third-generation American of German descent– even in America, my Germanic last-name has inspired numerous sly quips about Nazism during my lifetime, so I can imagine the unearned blame that actual Germans born well after WW2 are forced to endure. I certainly don’t hold individuals culpable for the sins of their forefathers or countrymen or anyone other than themselves–)

Holy crap, that is one scary freaking date.

While the guy was definitely horrifying, I don’t really understand why the woman didn’t call him on his dickishness (or, if she really couldn’t get a word in, just get up and leave as soon as he started talking about that shit). I think the censure of other regular people is more effective than any official repression, which allows these people to claim persecution and just feeds their delusions.

His german grammar is wrong.